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Juan Martínez Montañés (March 16, 1568 – June 18, 1649), known as el Dios de la Madera (''the God of Wood''), was a Spanish
sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, born at
Alcalá la Real Alcalá la Real is a city in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2006 census ( INE), the city has a population of 22,129. Geography Alcalá la Real is situated from the provincial capital, Jaén, and from Granada, on the slopes of ...
, in the province of Jaén. He was one of the most important figures of the Sevillian school of sculpture.


Biography

Juan Martínez Montañés was born on March 16, 1568 in Alcalá la Real, Jaén, Spain. His master was Pablo de Roxas. His first known work, dating to 1597, is the graceful St. Christopher in the church of El Salvador at
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
. His ''Boy Christ'' (dated 1607) is in the
sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...
of the
cathedral of Seville The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along ...
. His masterpiece, the great altar of
St Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is com ...
at San Isidoro del Campo, Santiponce, near Seville, was contracted in 1609 and completed in 1613. Montañés executed most of his sculpture in wood, which was gessoed, polychromed and gilded. Other works were the great altars at Santa Clara in Seville and at San Miguel in
Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...
, the
Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth ...
and the realistic figure of Christ Crucified in ''Cristo de la Clemencìa'', commissioned in 1603,Its iconography was laid out in minute detail in the contract, which survives. in the sacristy of Seville cathedral (''illustration''); the figure of
St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
, and the St Bruno (1620); a tomb for Don Pérez de Guzmán and his wife (1619); the highly realistic polychromed wood head and hands of St Ignatius of Loyola (1610) and of
St Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...
in the university church of Seville, where the costumed figures were used in celebrations. Montañés achieved great fame in his lifetime; he died in 1649, leaving a large family. His works are more realistic than imaginative, but this, allied with an impeccable taste, produced remarkable results. In 1635, in preparation for the bronze equestrian statue of King Philip IV by
Pietro Tacca Pietro Tacca (16 September 1577 – 26 October 1640) was an Italian sculptor, who was the chief pupil and follower of Giambologna. Tacca began in a Mannerism, Mannerist style and worked in the Baroque style during his maturity. Biography ...
, Montañés went to
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
and spent seven months there modelling a portrait of Philip IV. The work was sent to Tacca in Florence as primary reference for the King, and the statue was finished in 1640. During his stay in Madrid he had his
portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...
painted by
Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...
, whose tutor had worked for him. He had many imitators, including his son Alonzo Martínez, who died in 1668. His students included Juan de Mesa.


References

* This work in turn cites: **B. Haendeke, ''Studien zur Geschichte der spanischen Plastik'' (Strassburg, 1900) **F. Gomez, ''Historia de la escultura en España'' (Madrid, 1885).


External links


Euroweb Gallery:
illustrations *
''Velázquez ''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Juan Martínez Montañés (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez Montanes, Juan 1568 births 1649 deaths People from Alcalá la Real Spanish Baroque sculptors Spanish male sculptors 16th-century Spanish sculptors 17th-century Spanish sculptors Spanish woodcarvers Catholic sculptors